Cock, peanuts, penis and so on, those are the words that refer to male’s sexual organ. And many people easily say those words in everywhere, especially while drinking. On the other hand, no one easily say pussy, vulva, muff or vagina, which is expressing women’s sexual organ, in normal life. For example, many males could say ‘ouch my penis hurts,’ however, not many females could not say ‘ouch my vagina hurts.’ Why only males can easily say their sexual in public on the other hand females cannot? In my personal opinion, the biggest reason is in society. When I was young, I heard many sex related sentences, such as being like a man or being like a woman. In this phrase ‘being like a women’ contains many meanings. However, the main meaning was staying calm and looks like graceful lady. I understand why many people said that kind of phrases for young kids, however, because of that discrimination, the word which refers women’s sexual organs turned into a taboo in this society. To overcome this, people should change their point of view that the vagina is not a shameful word. It is just a part of organ which female has.

This one is practically a no-brainer, and yet Westerners cannot begin
to see the mess they’ve created with their supposedly ‘advanced’ society.

The U.S. in particular has developed a truly sick, twisted methodology
of “protecting” children from the knowledge they should rightfully have
about their own bodies AND a mature view of sexuality. One parent holds
both hands over the kid’s ears, while the other parent holds both hands
over the kid’s EYES!

NewsFlash..! You cannot ‘protect’ anyone by keeping them IGNORANT.

Contrived ignorance, and our Taboo Culture of labeling (censoring) every
tiny slice of verbiage as being “good” or “bad” ONLY succeeds in creating
a sort of Underground cachet surrounding ordinary knowledge. This, in
turn, only prods children to seek out whatever these ‘dirty little secrets’
are…and, of course, the ultimate answer simply HAS to be SENSATIONAL,
right..? If it WASN’T spectacular, why hide it in the first place?

The OP and several respondents have referred to the beneficial effects
of “other cultures”, while simultaneously failing to see the forest
for the trees! Those “other cultures” do NOT treat children as sexless
eunuchs who are devoid of genitals and thus devoid of any “need-to-know”
ANYTHING about the world they will be living in 10 years hence.

In many other parts of this world, nude beaches are commonplace, as is
art (sculptures, paintings) depicting both nude humans AND couples
in the midst of romantic interludes. Beyond being a reflection of real
life, they also serve as a small and gradual introduction to the sexual
roles these children will soon be playing themselves.

Fully ‘modern’ parents could do themselves a HUGE favor by throwing any
“Internet Filtering Software” in the trash, and then encouraging the
kids to discuss what they find through their own curiosity.

And…What’s wrong with the word ‘Pussy’..? I agree that many of the
terms that have been contrived to refer to female anatomy ARE derogatory,
but I never felt that Pussy was in any way insulting. I really would
NOT welcome a world in which we all have pre-sterilised and purely
clinical discussions about penises and vaginas.

I have to close with one simple observation that I do not have any answer
for…and it haunts me. Ask any 13 or 14 year old girl how she feels
about her own body, and the nearly universal answer comes back : “Vaginas
are Gross!”

I’ve no idea where or how youngsters ‘learn’ this sort of demeaning and
self-defeating view of themselves, but it REALLY needs to be stopped!

I think the reason for resistance towards the promotion of female sexuality comes from the core of our societies values.. From the beginning of our lives, it has been drilled into our heads that it’s manly and prideful to have a large penis. I think many guys feel that if they actually don’t talk about their penis and be prideful of it, then it could be taken a sign of having a small cock. Which is the last thing guys want people thinking about them. The status quo for women has been that sex is better for them and their partner if they don’t have sex a lot, and preferably be a virgin. So talking about anything sexual could be misconstrued as he woman being experienced in sex, and less attractive by the status quo. It comes from our psychology being influenced by the media, our family, music, and tradition. This is a huge problem and should be stopped.

I definitely agree that we, as women, have been socially taught that any mention of our genitals is at any time uncalled for, unless it’s with a our gynocologist. This brings up another issue women face; if a women sees a male, instead of female, gynocologist, we are more prone to feel uncomfortable when answering routine questions about our sexuality.
While men are taught to “name” their penis for the solid purpose of flaunting it, women are told to never speak of their genitals because it’s shameful and not accepted in society.
So I wonder… What if the social norms were flipped? Would it be acceptable for women to walk around with their hands down their pants? Grab their “crotch” when they see an attractive man? Or simply, sit wide-legged as a sign of confidence?
Sadly, I doubt it.

Everyone knows that miraculously guys ended up with all the good nicknames such as “players” and even “cocks”. Guys private parts get the name cock, much like the term cocky because men have something to show off and be proud of. Mens nicknames tend to always have some of positive connotation. However, women’s private parts get a negative connotation with the phrase “down there” making it sound as if it is forbidden or a place that is not to be mentioned. Therefore, leading girls to feeling either ashamed or embarrassed about what is natural for their bodies.

As a female, I can relate to the feeling of shame that arises when talking about ’‘down there’’ with people of another sex. When I am in the company of people I know well, It’s not so embaressing to talk about because there is no judgement being passed. But guys, don’t in general seem to care so much about discussing those things in private. They can do it anywhere, simply because of the fact that they are guys and that’s more expected of them. Females are taught more that their private parts are exactly that, private. They shouldn’t be talked about and its sort of taboo in a way. I see a connection between Adam and Eve and the story there. Eve is kind of always the bad guy and blamed for being the one who dragged Adam with her in sinning. It’s like talking about womens vagina is worse than a guy talking about his penis. It’s weird because it is acceptable for women to be sexaulized to the limit in the media but it’s not okay for them to talk about it openly the way that guys do.

In a previous gender communication class the professor asked, “how many males have had a women expose their vagina to them?” (specifically a woman who was not under the influence of anything), one male raised his hand. When the same question was asked to the female students, “how many females have had a male expose their penis to them?” (again without being under the influence of anything), and at least 15 girls raised their hands. I agree that women are more ashamed and shy about their sexuality and anything having to do with their “lady parts”. I believe there are multiple reasons for this. One, we live in a patriarchal society. Men are raised with the notion that they are the top dog, and that women are below them. They hold the money, the power, etc Therefore, women are also raised with the notion that they are not only below men, but also must be lady-like and perfect in order to appeal to high power men. Second, physically a male’s penis hand out on the exterior, and a female’s vagina is interior. The penis is exposed easily and the vagina is not. Women are deemed dirty for their monthly periods, and it creates this shamefulness. Women need to create a support system in order to educate each other and empower each other to not be ashamed of who we are, and not be ashamed of our sexuality.

This is interesting. I remember one time sitting in front of the tv with my parents and a commercial came on for viagra, the words penis and erection were said various times, but it was nothing to cringe about… it seemed. Not long after, a commercial for women’s birth control came on and my dad started talking about how it promotes young girls to have sex. I was really irritated by the reaction. I feel like because even commercials that talk about a woman’s sexual health are kind of awkward and taboo, this is making it even more difficult for girls to feel free to talk about their sexuality and become more private and shy about it.

On another note, I’ve had my tampon fall out of my purse in class, and though no one saw…. or at least I thought so, I turned every possible shade of red. But I wondered why? I mean all girls get periods and all guys know what periods are… it’s only natural… there really is nothing to be embarrassed about. When my mom told my dad I felt sick because I was menstrual, I found it hard to face my dad. This wouldn’t happen if society didn’t make a women’s sexuality sound like a monster, while a man’s sexuality is praised and treated as if it were a king or something. It’s all BS in my opinion. I think guys are, if not more, promiscuous than girls so yeah, they are sluts too. But we should have a remodeling of sexual words.

Adults use the terms more freely, in addition to that men like to be boastful and they are not shy from saying either penis or vagina.

I would have to say that it depends on the woman. Some women are fine talking about their sexuality then some and some never talk about it cause it makes them feel uncomfortable. Same with the tampons. For guys to be talking about their penis..of course they are going to brag about it and show off and for girls it’s mostly expected that they don’t say anything about their vagina cause it’s not “lady like” to be talking about such a topic.